Polish minority ‘not disloyal’ to Lithuania

Secretary of the Union of Poles in Lithuania Edward Trusewicz called the comments “a gross exaggeration”.

“Poles in Lithuania have never displayed a lack of loyalty towards the state, they are only protesting against some decisions of the authorities, which is a normal thing in a democratic state,” said Trusewicz.

He added also that Poland has the right to defend the interests of its minority, which is in line with European principles.

The sizeable Polish minority in Lithuania has been protesting against the country’s new education law, which – its leaders claim – sidelines minority language teaching in public schools. The school row has prompted talks between the prime ministers of Poland and Lithuania, Donald Tusk and Andrius Kubilius, who said the thorny issues will be discussed by a joint working group.

Meanwhile, a conference devoted to the situation of national, ethnic and language minorities in the European Union member states has begun in the eastern city of Lublin.

Out of about 500 million people who live in the EU, several dozen million are members of some minority. The minority problems concerns all EU member states, says Dr. Grzegorz Kuprianowicz, head of the Ukrainian diaspora in Lublin and one of the organizers of the conference.

“Each European country has its ethnic minorities, both within its borders, as well as groups of compatriots who live outside the country,” he said.

“Minorities are not a problem, but violation of their rights is,” says Kuprianowicz.

With nationalist sentiments on the rise, anti-minority acts are becoming an acute problem. Most recently, sign posts in Lithuanian have been painted over and another Jewish memorial was vandalized in eastern Poland, while in the Czech Republic Polish road signs were damaged again. (kk/pg)